The Gift
"The Gift" is an episode of the The Twilight Zone. Episode Details Opening Narration "The place is Mexico, just across the Texas border, a mountain village held back in time by its remoteness and suddenly intruded upon by the twentieth century. And this is Pedro, nine years old, a lonely, rootless little boy, who will soon make the acquaintance of a traveler from a distant place. We are at present forty miles from the Rio Grande, but any place and all places can be - the Twilight Zone." Episode Summary A humanoid alien has just crash-landed outside a mountain village just across the Texas-Mexico border. He has killed a police officer and was wounded by another. When he reaches a village bar, he collapses. A sympathetic doctor operates on him, removing two bullets from his chest. The alien (who refers to himself as "Mr. Williams") explains to the doctor and the bartender that the dead policeman tried to kill him and that he killed the officer in self defense. Mr. Williams becomes friends with Pedro, an orphan whose job is to clean the bar. Pedro receives a gift from Williams, who tells Pedro that he will explain it later. Meanwhile, the bartender notifies the army about Williams' location. Williams attempts to escape back to his ship, but soldiers and villagers corner him. He tries to explain that he has come in peace and that the police officer getting shot was an accident. He tells Pedro to show the gift to the doctor, but the villagers take the gift from him and set it on fire, claiming that it must be black magic or of the devil. As the villagers watch Pedro and Williams reaching for each other, fear drives them to shoot Williams before he has a chance to harm the boy. With Williams lying dead, the doctor picks up the remains of the gift from the fire. He reads the note on it aloud: "Greetings to the people of Earth: We come...in peace. We bring you this gift. The following chemical formula is...a vaccine against all forms of cancer..." The rest is burned away. The doctor states, "We have not just killed a man; we have killed a dream." Closing Narration "Madeiro, Mexico, the present. The subject: fear. The cure: a little more faith. An RX off a shelf - in the Twilight Zone." Preview for Next Week's Story Next week on The Twilight Zone, a return visit from an illustrious young actor, Cliff Robertson. He stars in one of the strangest tales we've yet to throw at you. It's called "The Dummy" and it involves a ventriloquist and a piece of painted wood - a unique slab of carved pine who decides that lap sitting is for the birds, and who takes things into his own wooden hands. Now this one we recommend to the voice throwers across the land. We hope we see you then. Production Companies *Cayuga Productions *Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (in association with) Distributors *Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1959) (USA) (TV) (original airing) Memorable Quotes External Links *http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734642/ Category:Need Picture